"Hey bro, are you okay? We saw you lying down unconscious. Do you mind telling us what happened?"
Zich frowned when he saw the faces of the two men who were clearly in their mid twenties and did not look like the teens who had just entered Ascension Mountain.
"I am fine," he managed to say as he sat upright.
"Are you sure you are fine?" one of the men insisted with a concerned look on his face.
"Yeah, I am," Zich said as he stood up, dusted the dirt off his clothes, and began to walk away, leaving the two men staring at him.
"Do you think he noticed something?"
"Probably. I mean we do not look exactly like newbies, do we genius?"
. . .
For the next twenty minutes, Zich simply walked while observing his surroundings, making sure he was not being followed.
Zich was not stupid. With a single glance, he had already been able to tell that those two were not newbies.
Yes, it was true that they had watched over him and probably scared away any monsters from approaching, but Zich had heard too many things about Ascension Mountain to trust other players so easily.
From what little his father Leon knew, he had learned something important.
"The most dangerous creatures in Ascension Mountain are not the monsters. They are the players themselves. It is important that you always keep an eye out for them."
There was also another pressing issue. Zich could not afford to be careless when entering his graveyard again. Without being in a safe place or having something watching over him, he might wake up to find himself in the jaws of some monster.
When he felt that he was no longer being watched, Zich finally stopped walking.
By chance, at that same time, he came across a monster.
[Demonic Toad. Level 5]
Several meters ahead of Zich was a small swamp that gave off a foul smell. The water was dark and still, and the mud around it looked soft and wet.
The toad appeared busy feasting on a small fish or insect, so it did not sense the human quietly observing from a distance.
"Poisonous Slime, come out."
At Zich's command, the blue colored slime popped out of the ground. It stared at its master with its two large eyes, bouncing slightly as if waiting for an order.
"What should I name you?" A serious expression appeared on Zich's face, then his eyes suddenly flashed as he got an idea.
"Let us go with Slimy."
The excited look on the poisonous slime's face fell. It clearly did not like that name.
But Zich did not care. Slimy was much shorter than calling it Poisonous Slime every time he wanted to give an order.
"Alright, Slimy," Zich said quietly, pointing toward the swamp. "Rain poison on that thing."
Slimy turned and looked at the Demonic Toad. The small slime wobbled once as if confirming the order, then its body swelled slightly. The next moment, it opened its mouth and began to spit out streams of dark green poison toward the toad. The poison made a light hissing sound as it landed on the monster's body.
The poison fell like rain and splashed across the toad's back and head. The Demonic Toad immediately reacted, letting out a rough croak as its body twitched.
Smoke began to rise from the spots where the poison touched, and a burnt smell spread in the air as the creature let out another rough croak.
"Keep going," Zich said in a low voice.
Slimy continued to spit poison without stopping, each shot landing on the toad's body and slowly eating away at it. The creature's movements became more violent as it tried to locate the attacker, but the poison kept falling and steadily drained its health.
Zich did not wait any longer. The moment the toad focused on Slimy, he moved. He tightened his grip on the rusty sword and rushed forward from the side, closing the distance quickly while the monster was distracted.
The toad noticed him at the last second. Its swollen throat bulged, and then its long tongue shot out like a whip.
Fwooom!
He tried to step to the side to avoid it, but the tongue curved in mid air and wrapped tightly around his waist. The wet and slimy tongue tightened around him, making it hard to breathe.
"Tch."
Before he could react again, the Demonic Toad yanked its tongue back, dragging Zich across the ground toward its wide open mouth. Dirt scraped under his boots as he was pulled forward, the distance between him and the monster closing rapidly.
While being dragged forward, he tightened his grip on the rusty sword and pulled his arm back, steadying his body as much as he could.
The toad opened its mouth wider as it dragged him closer, its tongue tightening every second. He could feel the pull getting stronger, and the ground beneath him was turning wet near the swamp edge.
"Fuck."
Behind him, Slimy was still spitting poison, and the monster's body kept twitching from the damage, but it refused to release him. He planted his free foot against the ground for a moment, trying to slow himself, but the force was too strong and he was pulled forward again.
Using the momentum of being dragged toward the toad, he raised his blade and prepared to strike.
"Die!"
With a fierce roar and eyes burning with determination, he thrust the rusty sword forward, piercing through the Demonic Toad's midsection. The blade sank in with a wet sound as the monster croaked loudly.
Because the monster's health had already been severely depleted by Slimy, all he needed was a few more stabs to finish it off.
[You have slain a Level 5 Demonic Toad]
When he saw the familiar orb fly out of the toad and enter his body, he was released as the toad collapsed to the ground. He lay there breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon.
"Phew. That was close," he said as he pushed the toad's slimy tongue off his body. "Who would have thought there would be so much gap betw—"
Suddenly the water began to bubble, causing Zich to narrow his eyes. Right before his eyes, several pairs of red eyes slowly rose out of the water, staring at him with intense hatred.
"More… there are more of them…"
***
AN: Was in the middle of exams but I'm done with it so be exoecting chapters daily from now on !
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